Ok really, There are SO many posts about needles right now.... and the subject comes up a couple times a month.
Its not like we dont all love talking about needles.....but

how about we put a sticky up about "Needles and things for newbies" or something like that???

That way they can look thro there and if they have more questions they can then ask.....

This all prob sounds very snobish but .....

suzeeq

01-13-2010, 09:59 AM

The mods have discussed it, and we want to try to avoid putting up too many stickies, but we could look at it again.

saracidaltendencies

01-13-2010, 10:15 AM

I mentioned this in the changes to the OT forum thread but I'm not sure if anyone has seen it, but, is it possible to do subforums on this forum? If so, I think subforums would be a great way to kind of "organize" things without having a bunch of stickies. There could be subforums, within the general knitting forum, for OT, Tips and Tricks, Needles and whatever else is significant enough to warrant being singled out, so to speak...lol

OffJumpsJack

01-13-2010, 11:11 AM

I mentioned this in the changes to the OT forum thread but I'm not sure if anyone has seen it, but, is it possible to do subforums on this forum? If so, I think subforums would be a great way to kind of "organize" things without having a bunch of stickies. There could be subforums, within the general knitting forum, for OT, Tips and Tricks, Needles and whatever else is significant enough to warrant being singled out, so to speak...lol

Actually that is what these different sections are. ;)

Top level is Knitting Help Forum, then there are the sub forums:
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif General
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif How to Questions
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif Crochet
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif etc..

Now if you're asking if another level could be added like this...
Knitting Help Forum:
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif General
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif Off Topic
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif How to Questions
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif Crochet
http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/Images/space.gif etc..

I'm not sure that is really desirable. People preferred their information more easily visible. You see this in stores, everything is on the front edge of the shelf. I've seen the flip side of this on a couple other forums. You had to drill down through at least two layers of forum headings (categories or groupings) before you reached the posts. I'm fuzzy on the details because I didn't stay there long.

:think:
Now that I think about it, the visible layout of this forum is one part of it's attraction for me. A willingness to recycle old topics for new members (or existing members with new interests) to ask, learn, and share is another part of Knitting Help's attractiveness.

suzeeq

01-13-2010, 11:23 AM

That's why Sheldon and Amy and the mods want to keep it as simple as possible. The Knitter's Review forum is impossible, has about 2 or 3 dozen forums, knittyboard has quite a few, but it's easy enough for me to click on new posts and only look at the threads that interest me.

AngelaR

01-13-2010, 11:28 AM

I think since we do discuss needles quite a bit, that perhaps it deserves its own forum. I'm not sure whether that's on the table or not, but adding one more forum, might not really hurt.

Just my two cents worth.

saracidaltendencies

01-13-2010, 11:49 AM

I was referring to subforums within the General Knitting forum, not the forum as a whole...

A forum I am an admin at has a "Community" forum and once you enter that forum, at the very top, there are 3 subforums, "Member Gallery," "Member Exchange," and "Member Meet-Up". Makes it handy for those who are interested in those topics specifically. And, it keeps the pinned topics to a minimum.

I think it could be handy here only because we have so many new members registering each day that so many times the same questions are being answered. If there were a subforum dedicated to a particular topic, such as tips and tricks, it could very well cut down on the repeat questions and eliminate the need to scour the forum to link to a topic that has already been covered. Sure there is a sticky, but, all the questions and replies are lumped together. With a separate subforum, new topics could be started for each tip or trick.

The subforums would pretty much just replace the stickies but the benefit is being able to start new topics in each subforum as opposed to having a single thread like 80 pages long...lol...I also find that set-up to be more user friendly.

kellyh57

01-13-2010, 12:55 PM

For every post about interchangeable needles, it could just go to the sticky at the top. I think a new interchangeable discussion is started every week. That would cut down on a ton of threads! If you want to add another sticky, add one for which type of needle is best. That's about every other week. I think the same opinions are voiced every time too. (I don't know. I don't read them anymore!) Is there really a need to say the same thing over and over again? Why not just make a couple of stickies for these and be done with it. If anyone wants to post another thread, redirect them to the one with all the opinions already posted.

Jan in CA

01-13-2010, 02:13 PM

We HAD a sticky thread in General Forum until a few days ago and people still asked questions because they didn't see it or didn't want to read through it or thought their question was different. So there's no point really so it was removed to declutter the top of the forum.

Did any of you see that sticky thread? If not you see what I mean. Here is the original thread that was stickied.

I'm not really bothered by repeat threads about needles...I've been knitting for years and still read those threads b/c sometimes someone will write something new for from a new perspective.

I have to agree with whomever said Keep It Simple. I detest Knitter's Review b/c the learning curve to find the information I am looking for is overwhelming - IMO. I have the same problem with Ravelry - too many groups, blogs, sub-sections etc.

Mike

01-13-2010, 06:30 PM

When new people to a forum get to ask a typical newbie question it makes them part of the community. When they read a FAQ they're just reading a website.

lissaplus2

01-13-2010, 06:33 PM

I agree with you Mike...

Im just saying, If not a sticky, We need a Needle and notions somethingorother....

meowmeowmeow

01-13-2010, 09:18 PM

Honestly,I don't think noobs ever look at stickies.People tend to join forums 'cause they have 1 important question then stick around and look at all the boards, make friends and come on every couple of days.The stickies don't seem to be getting noticed till after the repeat question has been asked and someone points out that there is a thread for it already.It's not just this forum though, it's just about every forum I've ever been to.

Sarah6485

01-14-2010, 01:28 AM

Sorry if I made a 'noob' move by asking about interchangeable needle sets a bit ago. I didn't feel like scouring the entire forum to track down other threads and the search function wasn't working right for me.

I guess I don't see the big deal about multiple threads on the same topic. It's easy enough to just skip over the repeats that you don't feel like reading about the same thing. Maybe that's just my 'newbie' mentality though.

Hopefully I get some credit, however, for at least sticking around to participate in other threads, not like some of the other 'noobs' you speak of. :/

Jan in CA

01-14-2010, 01:46 AM

Sorry if I made a 'noob' move by asking about interchangeable needle sets a bit ago. I didn't feel like scouring the entire forum to track down other threads and the search function wasn't working right for me.

Oh no..don't worry about it. I was just point out why we removed the thread. If people are bothered by repleat questions they don't need to click them. Simple as that. Too many sticky threads get annoying because you have to scroll down to see the main forum which annoys me, too. I'm glad you're here, Sarah and we don't mind your questions!:hug:

Sarah6485

01-14-2010, 01:50 AM

Oh no..don't worry about it. I was just point out why we removed the thread. If people are bothered by repleat questions they don't need to click them. Simple as that. Too many sticky threads get annoying because you have to scroll down to see the main forum which annoys me, too. I'm glad you're here, Sarah and we don't mind your questions!:hug:

Oh my thread wasn't removed, it's still there. I was just stating in general. I honestly didn't see any other threads about it when I posted it (this was a week or two ago), and didn't see that 'poll' that was posted on page one of this thread either. *shrug*

I don't like a lot of stickies, and honestly don't really read them since they always have a bajillion pages and I just don't have the time to fish through all of them, esp when the posts are from like 2007. I just figure if the thread is a repeat or something, then people will just skip over it onto something that interests them. :)

meowmeowmeow

01-14-2010, 02:06 AM

Hopefully I get some credit, however, for at least sticking around to participate in other threads, not like some of the other 'noobs' you speak of. :/

rofl.

Don't worry about it.It feels good not to be abandoned after one question :cry:

globaltraveler

01-14-2010, 06:29 AM

I do feel sorry for the moderators, though, having to cope with the interchangeable needles question every week or so. But so long as you lot don't mind dealing with it... :)

GinnyG

01-14-2010, 08:39 AM

My "opinion" is that interchangable needles are a pressing issue for many knitters, new and old. While I don't find it annoying to see the frequent posts I do think that after awhile people (other than people who are new) grow tired of responding.

I know for a long time when ever the issue came up I would post my thoughts as the user of three different sets of interchangeables. I hope my thoughts were valuable... perhaps not. But I got tired of responding to the same question over and over so now I just ignore the threads.

If there were a "sticky" about interchangeable needles (and at one time there was), those with thoughts would only need to voice those opinions once. If for some reason a person missed that sticky and asked the question yet again they could be directed to the thread.

As for getting over run with stickies, I think the interchanageable needle question far out weighs other issues in volume and would be valuable.

Just my thoughts.......

Plantgoddess+

01-16-2010, 01:34 PM

I haven't found the repeats a problem. It seems in the last year or so a number of needle manufacturers have come out with interchangeables, Addi comes to mind immediately. Knit Picks has added the acrylic tips and I think there are now also bamboo interchangeables available. There seems to be something to be gleaned each time it comes up and some new members may have info on something that hasn't been covered.